Pope to visit Philadelphia next year for conference

By Daniel Burke, CNN

Updated 1:51 PM ET, Fri July 25, 2014

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With his penchant for crowd-pleasing and spontaneous acts of compassion, Pope Francis has earned high praise from fellow Catholics and others since he replaced Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. Click through to see moments from his papacy.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, June 10. The Pope gave Putin a medallion depicting the angel of peace, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said. The Vatican called it "an invitation to build a world of solidarity and peace founded on justice." Lombardi said the pontiff and President talked for 50 minutes about the crisis in Ukraine and violence in Iraq and Syria.

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Pope Francis talks with Cuban President Raul Castro during a private audience at the Vatican on Sunday, May 10. Castro thanked the Pope for his role in brokering the rapprochement between Havana and Washington.

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Pope Francis leaves at the end of an Armenian rite Mass on Sunday, April 12.

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The Pope greets the crowd from St. Peter's Basilica following Easter Mass on Sunday, April 5.

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Pope Francis touches a child's face as he arrives for a meeting in the Vatican on Friday, March 6.

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The Pope attends the funeral of Cardinal Karl Josef Becker on Monday, February 16.

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Pope Francis hugs a child while meeting with youth at Santo Tomas University in Manila, Philippines, on Sunday, January 18.

The Pope attends Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

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Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I address the faithful in Istanbul on Sunday, November 30.

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Pope Francis speaks during the feast-day Mass while on a one-day trip to the Calabrian region of Italy in June 2014. The Pope spoke out against the Mafia's "adoration of evil and contempt for the common good," and declared that "mafiosi are excommunicated, not in communion with God."

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Pope Francis prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem in May 2014.

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The Pope meets faithfuls as he visits the San Gregorio Parish in Rome in April 2014.

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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with the Pope during their one-day visit to Rome in April 2014.

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Francis speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited the Vatican in March 2014.

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The Pope blesses the altar at Rome's Santa Sabina church as he celebrates Mass on Ash Wednesday in March 2014.

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Daniele De Sanctis, a 19-month-old child dressed up as a pope, is handed to Francis as the pontiff is driven through the crowd in St. Peter's Square in February 2014.

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Wind blows the papal skullcap off Pope Francis' head in February 2014.

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A lamb is placed around Francis' neck in January 2014 as he visits a living nativity scene staged at a church on the outskirts of Rome.

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Pope Francis meets with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Vatican in December 2013. Benedict surprised the world by resigning "because of advanced age." It was the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years.

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Pope Francis marked his 77th birthday in December 2013 by hosting homeless men to a Mass and a meal at the Vatican. One of the men brought his dog.

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Pope Francis embraced Vinicio Riva, a disfigured man who suffers from a non-infectious genetic disease, during a public audience at the Vatican in November 2013. Riva then buried his head in the Pope's chest.

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Pope Francis jokes in November 2013 with members of the Rainbow Association, which uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages.

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A young boy hugs Francis as he delivers a speech in St. Peter's Square in October 2013. The boy, part of a group of children sitting around the stage, played around the Pope as the Pope continued his speech and occasionally patted the boy's head.

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Francis has eschewed fancy cars. Here, Father Don Renzo Zocca, second from right, offers his white Renault 4L to the Pope during a meeting at the Vatican in September 2013.

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Francis has his picture taken inside St. Peter's Basilica with youths who came to Rome for a pilgrimage in August 2013.

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During an impromptu news conference in July 2013, while on a plane from Brazil to Rome, the Pope said about gay priests, "Who am I to judge?" Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the Catholic Church.

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Crowds swarm the Pope as he makes his way through World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July 2013. According to the Vatican, 1 million people turned out to see the Pope.

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Francis frees a dove in May 2013 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

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Francis embraces a young boy with cerebral palsy in March 2013 -- a gesture that many took as a heartwarming token of the Pope's self-stated desire to "be close to the people."

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The Pope washes the feet of juvenile offenders, including Muslim women, as part of Holy Thursday rituals in March 2013. The act commemorates Jesus' washing of the Apostles' feet during the Last Supper.

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Francis stands at the reception desk of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI residence, where he paid the bill for his stay during the conclave that would elect him leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

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Francis, formerly known as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected the Roman Catholic Church's 266th Pope in March 2013. The first pontiff from Latin America was also the first to take the name Francis.

Pope Francis has accepted the invitation of Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput to attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia next year, Catholic News Service reported Friday.

It would be the popular pontiff's first visit to the United States as Pope.

The news service, the official publication of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Chaput made the announcement Thursday before giving his homily during the opening Mass of the Tekakwitha Conference in Fargo, North Dakota.

"Pope Francis has told me that he is coming," said the archbishop as he invited his fellow Native Americans to the celebration being held in Philadelphia on September 22-27, 2015.

Francis has received invitations to visit other places in the United States as well, which he is considering, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told Catholic News Service. Those invitations include New York, the United Nations and Washington.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said official confirmation from the Vatican for the trip will likely be given about six months before the World Meeting of Families.

"Archbishop Chaput has frequently shared his confidence in Pope Francis' attendance at the World Meeting and his personal conversations with the Holy Father are the foundation for that confidence," the archdiocese said.

"While Archbishop Chaput's comments do not serve as official confirmation, they do serve to bolster our sincere hope that Philadelphia will welcome Pope Francis next September," the archdiocese added.

The Vatican, which does not typically confirm papal trips until several months before their scheduled date, said the Pope has "indicated his willingness" to visit Philadelphia but has not made "concrete plans" yet.

"Keep in mind that we are still one year away from the Philadelphia meeting," Lombardi said in a statement on Friday.

A visit by Francis, the first Pope from Latin America, would resonate with the nation's growing Latin American population.

"The Hispanic population is growing in the United States, and with the vast majority being Catholic, having the first Pope from Latin America come to visit will be very exciting," said Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois.

Roberto Suro, a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California, said a U.S. visit by the Argentinian Pope would be symbolically powerful for Latinos -- many of whom have slipped away from the Catholic Church for evangelical sects.

"Latino Catholics have probably seen themselves less reflected in the hierarchy than their numbers might mirror," Suro told CNN.

"There are more Latino bishops now than a few years ago, but the American hierarchy still reflects the old Catholic Church dominated by the Irish and, to a certain extent, Italians and other people of European origins," he said. "Having a Latin American pope who is going to be speaking native Spanish to Latinos in the United States will be the first time they see themselves reflected so powerfully in the church hierarchy."

The U.N. General Assembly generally meets in September, leading to speculation that Francis might combine the Philadelphia trip with a stop in New York to address the United Nations.